The ‘Thirteenth progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union’(1) describes the progress at EU level to step up the exchange of information.

Member States increased their use of Europol systems in 2016. Total searches increased by 127% compared with 2015 to reach a new record. The number of messages sent via the Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA) increased by 19% between 2015 and 2016.

Member States also exchange data contained in their national databases within EU frameworks, for instance under Prüm(2) — which has seen a steady increase in the number of connections — and will do so under the Passenger Name Records Directive(3) once it is implemented. The Commission has supported the Member States' implementation through technical assistance and funding under the Internal Security Fund (Police)(4) and used its infringement powers when required.

Based on evaluations, the Commission proposed to reinforce the Schengen Information System(5) and the Eurodac(6) system, to extend the European Criminal Records Information System to third-country nationals(7), to create a European Travel Information and Authorisation System(8) and recently adopted Entry/Exit System(9).

Responding to gaps(10) and based on a high-level expert group's assessment(11), the Commission has presented legislative proposals(12) to establish a framework for interoperability between EU information systems as a further step to improve information exchange.

The European Agenda on Security(13) sets out the framework until 2020 towards an effective security Union. Its implementation is informed by a comprehensive assessment on EU security policy in the last 15 years(14). The Commission will continue to support the full implementation of EU measures on law enforcement cooperation and data sharing, reduce the complexity of EU tools, pool resources and address evolving threats.